DIY Wax Paper Lantern

With a busy toddler, sometimes it can be hard to come up with something fun to make that will keep her interested and, most importantly, learn something once we're done. This kid's craft covered a little bit of construction skills, colors and color-mixing, and creating unique artwork. With a few simple supplies, you can create a cute and colorful wax paper lantern and have a great time!

To make a wax paper lantern, you'll need:

Wax Paper {any brand should work great}

Crayons in multiple colors

Craft Sticks {I got mine from CraftProjectIdeas.com}

Iron

Scrap Paper or Newspaper

*Depending on the age of the child, I would highly recommend a bit of adult supervision. There will be the use of an iron, so we don't want any little hands getting burned!

Step 1: Cut or tear a piece of wax paper off the roll about 10-12 inches long. Fold and cut the paper in half length-wise. Fold each half in half again width-wise {don't tear it!} so you now have 2 sheets to work with that are each about 5x10-12 with a folded seam.

Step 2: Depending on how hard you or your child can color, you can color your own design on one half of the wax paper sheet. My daughter tried, but wasn't getting a very dark image. The darker your coloring, the better it will turn out.

Step 2.1: Since we couldn't draw a dark enough image, we did the next best thing: place crayon shavings into separate paper cups. Sprinkle the shavings {not too many} on one side of the wax paper. From a little trial and error, adding too many shavings can make a big mess when melted and will also end up blending all the colors into one. So, use a few and spread them out a little for best results.

Teach what colors work together when mixed {like blue + yellow = green}, and what will happen when you mix colors like yellow and purple that will turn a muddy brown. We made a few extra sheets so we could experiment with different colors.

Step 3: Fold the wax paper over with the shavings inside. Place on a piece of scrap or newspaper, then cover with another piece of paper. With your iron on medium heat, run it across the paper with a small amount of pressure. This should melt the crayon shavings and fuse the wax paper together. Having the scrap paper will help absorb any crayon that melts out of the wax paper and protects your iron. You can make as many sheets as you'd like, but you only need 4 for this project.

Step 4: With a little bit of glue, or using a glue gun, glue the craft sticks together to make a square {as seen in image above}. Make sure all the craft stick frames are completely dry before the next step!!

Step 5: Carefully trim your wax paper sheets to about 4x4 inch square {measure your frame to make sure what will fit} and tape the sheet to the inside of the craft stick frames.

Step 6: To put the lantern together, start by taping two of the frames together on the inside. Line the frame sides up, and add a few pieces of tape. Add the third frame the same way, then carefully fold them all in to form a cube. Add the fourth frame, and tape both edges so that all the frames are connected.

Now your lantern is done! Add a battery powered tea light or nightlight inside and admire your work!

With all the flammables involved in this project, I don't recommend putting a candle inside the lantern at all!!

Thanks again to CraftProjectIdeas.com for sending us craft sticks to play with!